Mochizuki to take on Holt for singles title at Bengaluru Open

Shintaro Mochizuki advances to ATP Challenger final after defeating James McCabe in Bengaluru Open semifinal.

Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki entered his third ATP Challenger singles final with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Australia’s James McCabe in the Bengaluru Open at the KSLTA courts here on Saturday.

In a contest that ebbed and flowed for two hours and 23 minutes, Mochizuki, dressed in dark and staid grey, impressed with his meticulous game even as McCabe, in fluorescent green shorts and white sleeveless tee, couldn’t get over the line despite his flamboyant shot-making.

In Sunday evening’s final, the World No. 167 will take on American World No. 144 Brandon Holt, who got past Brit Billy Harris 6-2, 7-6(4).

The Mochizuki-McCabe fixture began under hot conditions, with the usual breeze that blows across the leafy environs of the Cubbon Park surprisingly non-existent. It seemed to affect McCabe more, and Mochizuki, the 2019 junior Wimbledon champion, was up a double break in no time and soon took the set 6-1.

In the second, as temperatures cooled, McCabe managed to marry his aggression with precision and threatened the Mochizuki serve nearly every single time. The first break came in the seventh game and the second in the ninth as the World No. 207 took the set 6-3 to level matters.

The third set was see-saw. Though not blessed with penetrative power, Mochizuki worked the angles, changed direction repeatedly and hit with a lot of top-spin. That forced McCabe to dig deep and scamper all over, which, to his credit, he did rather well.

The two traded breaks once in the first six games but at 30-30 in the seventh, Mochizuki came up with a terrific down-the-line pass to bring up a break-point and won the game by finishing on the right side of a long, capricious rally.